


The Wardrobe

by thankyouturtle



Category: Chalet School - Brent-Dyer, Chronicles of Narnia - C. S. Lewis
Genre: Crossover, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-11-17
Updated: 2009-11-17
Packaged: 2017-10-03 05:23:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,435
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14655
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thankyouturtle/pseuds/thankyouturtle
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Pevensies are evacuated to Armishire.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Wardrobe

"This is going to be awful," Edmund said gloomily. "A doctor's wife! I bet she'll try and feed us cod liver oil three times a day to ward off colds! And in the country, too - she'll be horribly backwards."

"Stop that, Ed," Peter said sharply. "You're making Luce nervous."

"I'm not nervous!" Lucy said quickly. "Only - it will be quite different from living at home," and her bottom lip trembled. Susan smiled at her reassuringly.

"But just think, there's bound to be farms nearby - we'll get to see cows, and sheep, and- and chickens - probably the rationing won't be nearly as bad here as it is in London." This cheered all four children up immensely and the conversation took a happy turn, so that by the time the train had pulled into its last station and they had all piled out, even Edmund had lost his sulky look.

They were met by a tall woman who looked no older than the prefects at Susan's school. Edmund thought that with her hair in that ridiculous style she looked terribly foreign, but when she spoke her voice was English enough. "Is this all of you?" she asked in a voice full of laughter. "Thank goodness, because I don't think my poor runabout could fit anyone else! I'm Mrs Maynard," she added.

Lucy squeezed Susan's hand as a thrill of excitement rushed through her. Whatever they'd been expecting, this wasn't it.

***

  
"Mrs Maynard?" Lucy asked shyly as the lady poked her head into Lucy and Susan's shared room to wish her goodnight.

"What is it, my dear?" Mrs Maynard came in and sat on the end of her bed. "Susan won't be too long out of bed herself, you know, so you needn't feel lonely."

"Oh, it isn't that! I only wanted to ask you about that wardrobe." Lucy gestured to the grand wardrobe which stood in the corner of the room, taking up almost as much space as the dresser and desk together. Mrs Maynard eyed her young charge speculatively.

"The wardrobe, is it? Not everyone notices it, Lucy, but there is something very special about it. It was a wedding gift from my husband's godfather - and don't ask how we got it into the room in the first place, because I don't quite know myself!" She gave Lucy an infectious grin and Lucy found herself smiling back. Whatever Edmund thought, she was sure they were going to have a wonderful time here.

It wasn't until later, when she heard Susan come to bed, that she realised Mrs Maynard had never said why the wardrobe was so special. Well, perhaps she could find out herself.

***

  
"We won't have that in this household, Edmund."

Edmund stopped what he was doing - putting together a puzzle, as it happened - and looked at surprise at Robin. She was ordinarily very jolly looking, and he knew for a fact that Susan thought the world of her - he sneered at the thought - but right now she looked very grave.

"Doing what?" he asked, as rudely as he dared.

"Bullying. Don't think that no one has noticed the way that you've been treating Lucy. It's wrong, Edmund, and you know it."

"She's my sister," Edmund said, but it came out with less bravado than he'd meant. "I can treat her however I want. It's none of your business!"

"It is my business," Robin said sternly, "and I mean to put a stop to it. Did you know that Daisy and Primula, Jo's own nieces, gave up their rooms here so that you and your brothers and sisters could settle in as needs be? It was a very unselfish thing for them to have done, and yet they're being repaid by you treating your own sister in such a selfish way - yes, selfish!" she said, before he had time to object. "To hurt someone the way that you are is incredibly selfish, Edmund. I want you to think very carefully about what you're doing." She was interrupted then by her own three nieces tumbling into the room, and Edmund was left wondering which of his three siblings had told tales. Peter - Susan - Lucy? Well, it didn't matter. He'd pay them back - Robin, too. He'd pay them all back.

***

  
"You're saying you think your own sister is mad."

Peter winced as he heard the flat note in Mrs Maynard's voice. She was probably regretting agreeing to letting them stay in the first place, now that she knew that there was something seriously wrong with Lucy. "What other explanation is there?"

"A whole country in a wardrobe," Susan added. "It would be a nice game to pretend, I suppose, but Lucy really thinks it's true." From her voice, Peter could tell she was near tears. "What should we do, Mrs Maynard?"

"You might try believing her," Mrs Maynard said quietly, then, as Peter and his sister stared at her in disbelief, she continued, "No wonder Lucy's been going around looking like a wet Wednesday! I'd better go see tell her that no one will be carrying her off to the asylum today! Was that everything?"

"No... I mean, yes," Susan stammered. She threw a look at Peter, but he was just as lost for words. "Thank you, Mrs Maynard."

***

  
Ordinarily, Susan despised eavesdropping, but as she went to open her bedroom door she could hear Lucy saying, "...always winter - but never Christmas! Mr Tumnus says it has been that way as long as anyone can remember. It's so terrible, Mrs Maynard. I wish there was something that I could do to help."

Susan had been about to turn away, thinking it was just Lucy playing her silly game again. But now, she thought, Mrs Maynard would tell Lucy to stop acting like such a- a child. Instead, what she heard was Mrs Maynard's golden voice saying, "Well, what are you going to do about it?"

"What do you mean?"

"What are you going to do about the White Witch? She sounds like a rather awful sort of person; it's probably time someone sorted her out." Susan missed what Lucy said in reply, but Mrs Maynard began to laugh. "Oh no, I don't think I'd be brave enough to stand up to a witch! Besides, I'm not the one who's been travelling to Narnia through their bedroom wardrobe. That's you, my child, which means you're the one who will have to tackle the problem."

Susan walked away in disgust. Mrs Maynard must be quite as mad as Lucy.

***

  
"I'm sorry that it's raining today," Robin said softly. "I know you were going to go down to the village while we were at the Round House."

"I'm sure you four can amuse yourselves until we get back," Mrs Maynard said breezily. "And then you'll get to meet Daisy and Primula - both quite nice, if I do say so myself! Just don't get in Anna's way and don't wake the brats."

"We were going to play sardines," Lucy said, and Mrs Maynard nodded in approval.

"Quite a brilliant idea! But do try to stay out of trouble until I'm home again."

***

  
The four of them fell out of the wardrobe with a bang. They scrambled to their feet. Edmund went to stroke the beard that he no longer had; Lucy tried to brush out her long skirts and found she was wearing a child's summer dress; Peter, grabbing for his sword as though this was some new threat found it had disappeared. "Why, we're back at Plas Gwyn!" Susan exclaimed, and it slowly dawned on them that no time at all had passed while they were in the wardrobe.

***

  
"They went to Narnia? Jo, this had better not be a leg-pull." There was a note of wistfulness in Robin's voice that Jo hadn't heard before, and she reached out a comforting arm to her adopted sister.

"Indeed, it isn't, Rob - not only did they go, but they left behind my best pair of nailed boots! It's a good thing that the winters here are so mild compared to those we had on the Tiernsee."

Robin nodded, but she wasn't really listening. "Did they meet - Him? Aslan, I mean? Oh, of course they did! It's only - Jo, do you think we'll ever see Him again? Us two, I mean. He did say we would..."

Jo's eyes were very soft. "Yes, Liebchen. I think He's closer than either of us realise." Robin slowly nodded, and kissed her sister goodnight. There was something in the way that Jo had said it, that, well - Robin suddenly had a lot of things to think about.


End file.
